The best guitar for any student is the guitar he/she feels most comfortable with AND can afford!Are you the guitar teacher? If yes, take your student by the hand and visit some guitar shops to make him/her FEEL as much guitars as possible. Why a Telecaster? Can the student imagine any alternatives? What music does he/she wants to play? And: what is cheap? Brand new for under 200,- ? Forget it, no matter what current! Look on auction sites for a used American Standard or at least some MIM?

For (not only) students there are good tools available from Ibanez and Yamaha (always good value for little money). And if the student is "adult", he/she can bear the truth: the best guitar for your idol is not necessarily the best guitar for you!

I picked a butterscotch blonde Alfinity Chinese Fender for 99quid from Cash Converters some months ago. Seems a nice tool. The neck is a bit wider, flatter and thinner than Son's Strat and suits me better..NOT than I can play worth a butterscotch toffee!

Have recently become a big fan of G&L guitars - the 'L' being Leo Fender himself. Their American made guitars are expensive, the 'Tribute' far eastern series are much more affordable, but the real bargains come up with second hand G&L's. They just don't hold their value like 'real' Fenders - but are arguably better guitars.

Iain Boyd wrote:Have recently become a big fan of G&L guitars - the 'L' being Leo Fender himself. Their American made guitars are expensive, the 'Tribute' far eastern series are much more affordable, but the real bargains come up with second hand G&L's. They just don't hold their value like 'real' Fenders - but are arguably better guitars.

I've got 2 Tributes and I think they're both great. One is an S500 (a Strat with hotter pickups and tarted up switching / tone controls) and an ASAT special (a tele with pickups that are almost P90s but not quite).

The ASAT was a 2nd hand ebay effort and was around £200. Backed off, it's ALMOST a tele (bridge pickup is fatter than it should be but it suits me!) and it does some beautiful cleans. Flat out, it's an angry thing. I love it.